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An Indian student studying translation and silver-working at Babel, Ramy is a member of Robin's cohort. He is the first person Robin meets at Oxford, and the boys instantly connect, forcing Robin to realize that this—a deep, meaningful friendship with someone who understands the uniquely isolating experience of being an outsider—is something he has been missing out on for a very long time. Their intense and immediate bond, which permeates the entire text, signifies the strength of solidarity among the marginalized.

Ramy is kind and loyal as well as charismatic and unapologetically himself. He exists as somewhat of a literary foil to Robin; unlike Robin, who does his best to blend in and obscure his foreign heritage, Ramy embraces British stereotypes about Indians, leaning into them and therefore wresting his own narrative from the hands of those who see him as “other.” In short, Ramy is determined to “dazzle.”

The juxtaposition between the boys serves as a reminder of the different layers of otherness. Ramy is more visibly non-white than Robin and, as a result, faces deeper ostracization, as exemplified when Ramy is consistently refused service in various locations around Oxford, or when he is challenged outright by the racist Balliol boys who are incensed seeing Ramy wearing an Oxford gown. When Robin defuses the situation by running away, his decision highlights the contrast between the pair, and Robin’s insistence that he, not Ramy, return to the Bodleian to retrieve Ramy’s notebook signifies their shared implicit understanding that Robin is less likely invoke any additional ire, as he’s able to pass for white in the dark.

Ramy’s conscience is what leads him to the Hermes Society. His experiences growing up in the household of Horace Hayman Wilson, among the English elite, have made him adept at navigating English society, so much so that he experiences a distinct inner turmoil upon arriving at Oxford—he is so good at playing the part, he begins to lose himself in “the artifice.” He joins without hesitating, a choice that reflects a sentiment he will later insist to Robin—that survival should never come before dignity or justice.

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